Cyberchondria, but not preventive behavior, mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and somatic burden: Evidence from Russia

Abstract

BackgroundThere is extensive available research on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 pandemic and physical symptoms. This study was the first to examine the cyberchondria and COVID-19 preventive behavior as mediators of this relationship.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from October to December 2021, during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia. The participants were 2,011 Russian-speaking volunteers aged 18 years and older. They completed questionnaires on somatic burden, cyberchondria, COVID-19 preventive behavior, and fear of COVID-19 pandemic. Mediation analysis was used to explore the mediating roles of cyberchondria and preventive behavior in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and somatic burden.ResultsFear of COVID-19 positively predicted somatic burden, cyberchondria, and COVID-19 preventive behavior. Mediation analysis showed that the relationship between fear of COVID-19 pandemic and somatic burden was mediated by cyberchondria (effect = 0.08, bootstrapping SE = 0.01, bootstrapping 95% CI [0.08, 0.12]), but not COVID-19 preventive behavior (effect = 0.02, bootstrapping SE = 0.01, bootstrapping 95% CI [0.00, 0.05]).ConclusionThe findings suggest that cyberchondria had negative effects on somatic burden during the COVID-19 pandemic. The knowledge of the mediating role of cyberchondria may be used by health care workers when consulting persons with physical health complaints and psychosomatic disorders.

Psychometric Properties of the Multidimensional Assessment of Covid-19-Related Fears (MAC-RF) in French-Speaking Healthcare Professionals and Community Adults

“…Research has shown that fear of COVID-19 is associated with various psychological problems, including generalized anxiety (Muyor-Rodríguez, Caravaca-Sánchez & Fernández-Prados 2021;Stankovic et al 2021), health anxiety (Akbari et al, 2021), depression (Çıkrıkçı, Çıkrıkçı & Griffiths 2022;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al 2020), somatic symptoms (Zolotareva 2022), and post-traumatic stress (Coloma-Carmona & Carballo 2021).…”

“…This may engender feelings of anxiety (Heeren et al, 2020;Starcevic, Schimmenti & Billieux 2020) and preoccupation with one's own health (Akbari et al 2021). Also, the unpredictability of COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a persistent state of fear, with further consequences being higher levels of somatization and somatic symptoms (Zolotareva 2022), as well as post-traumatic stress symptoms (Coloma-Carmona & Carballo 2021).…”